The Ministry Can Be Hazardous to Your Health
God has not promised immunity to those who self-inflict physical and mental abuse for the sake of the kingdom.
James L. Johnson
January 1, 1980
I am not a physician. But physicians know me very well. More important, I have come to appreciate them as never before. Today I realize what I did to myself throughout my Christian life as a pastor, missionary, Christian businessman, and writer. Over a year ago, open heart surgery (a quadruple by-pass during which I "died" twice) proved the point once and for all: God is not the author of self-inflicted physical and mental abuse for the sake of the kingdom.
When Nietzsche said, "A sedentary life is the real sin against the Holy Ghost," he expressed one reason ministers and writers are the highest risks to insurance companies. Both professions involve too many deadlines and too much sitting (counseling, researching, writing sermons, or what have you), which create continual heat in the arterial system. My own complicated open heart surgery in March of 1978 at the age of 50 left little doubt about what I had done to myself. I had pastored for six years, been a missionary for three, taught journalism at college, and written books "around it all." Nobody said I had to do all that at one time. But the ministry is often a frantic gallop to keep up with the demands of people, programs, schedules, speaking engagementsï¾—and the needs of family on top of it all.
When I finally crashed at the very prime of my life, I faced a hard, long road back. There are no simple heart surgeries anyway, but mine was worse than average. It was unnecessary because, again, it was brought on by a sense ot Divine-human invincibility that said, "As long as I am doing God's work, nothing really bad can happen to me physically." I am still alive, by the grace of Cod. Too mai^ oi wj Aa^es m m\. \ was torhmate to
\^ ^ 'mtT^5 earry ^ my "heart was not standing ...
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